The stranger – part 7

Author – Nike Mike

I ran as quickly as my socked feet could carry me towards the bus stop. I could see a bicycle and my boots on the floor. Tomasz had the stranger pinned to the ground.
‘What the hell are you doing Tomasz’ I shouted.
‘I stop him stealing your boots’ he replied. I grabbed my boots and the bike and we moved to a quiet area away from the bus stop as I told Tomasz nothing had been stolen.
‘I don’t understand! You gave him boots?’ said a puzzled Tomasz releasing his grip from the stranger. Tomasz began to laugh, I feared everyone at work would find out.
The stranger rubbed his grazed forehead ‘I should call the police’.
Tomasz stopped laughing, ‘Please, No police, I thought you where thief, I make mistake, I am sorry’ he said. The stranger smiled offering Tomasz an alternative to calling the police. Tomasz said he had no money. The stranger said he didn’t want his money, just his boots.
‘Boots!’ said Tomasz. ‘I need for work!’.
The stranger promised to return them.
‘You take boots then give them back’ said my confused Polish co-worker. The stranger said it would be an alternative punishment to calling the police.
‘You promise no police if I give you boots’, said a relieved Tomasz. He sat on the ground and removed his work boots. He thanked the stranger for not calling the police as he over his footwear leaving him standing in red football socks.
The stranger had yet again successfully got somebody to happily give him the shoes off their feet. I just wished I had seen Jimmy giving him his trainers.
Tomasz being shoeless was very brief as he pulled out his blue Adidas trainers from his rucksack and put them on, much to the dismay of the stranger.
The stranger discovered his bike had been damaged in the tussle. Tomasz said he’d pay for the repair when he gets paid his wages.
‘You can give me those Adidas trainers until you do pay’ said the stranger.
Tomasz offered to exchange his trainers for his boots as he didn’t want to be shoeless on the bus. The stranger refused telling Tomasz that being shoeless was his punishment, taking his boots ensured that, taking his trainers ensures he pays to fix the bike.
‘You will leave here shoeless or with the police’ warned the stranger.
Tomasz looked down at his blue Adidas trainers and reluctantly kicked them off his feet. The stranger tied them to his handlebars along with our boots. He noticed our work trousers covered a good part of our feet. He insisted we tuck our trousers into our socks to ensure maximum exposure to our shoeless feet. I said it was unfair and Tomasz refused but the stranger was insistant.
‘I still have your Nikes and I could still call the police’ he said. My white boot socks and Tomasz red football socks gave prominence to our shoeless feet especially wearing fluorescent jackets. Why did I wear white socks knowing I would be losing my boots. I bet Tomasz wished he hadn’t wore red football socks today either. We watched the stranger leave taking our work boots and Tomasz Adidas trainers.
Although Tomasz involved himself I felt guilty for his embarrassment as our highly visible socked feet got lots of attention as we walked towards the bus stop.
Tomasz didn’t want to return to his shared accommodation shoeless so I let him stay with me until we get our boots back. Three shoeless guys stuck inside my small apartment all weekend wasn’t going to be fun.

Football hooligans

Author – Jay

“Where’s your school pal” asked grandad James as I got in the car. I explained he had to collect his shoes from our Chemistry teacher. Grandad laughed asking what Jordan had done to lose his shoes. I didn’t have time to explain before Jordan got in the car.
As Grandad drove off he asked my school pal why he was late. Jordan sheepishly said he had his shoes confiscated. Explaing that he had pulled off a shoe from a girl and threw it out of the window. The teacher told him to go get it but not before taking Jordans shoes from him. The class laughed as he he walked out the room shoeless. After returning the girls shoe he was told to collect his own shoes after school ended. He spent all afternoon in his socked feet. Jordan said he had never felt so embarrassed at having his shoes confiscated at 16 years old.
Grandad laughed, “Don’t beat yourself up” he said explaining he got his shoes taken from him as a 19 year old teenager not by a teacher but a policeman in the street.
It was the early seventies in London, he and his mate Terry had got the tube into town one Saturday afternoon. Fighting had erupted amongst football supporters on the train. At Putney Bridge Station the supporters had got off and became surrounded by the police. He and Terry stayed on the train, a young police constable entered their carriage and asked them if they’d been involved in the disturbance, Terry said they had not as they were not football supporters. The policeman said he needed to question them about the incident and asked them to accompany him back to Putney Bridge tube station. Outside the station entrance where about fifty youths surrounded by coppers, grandad said he found it amusing to see all the supporters stood in socked feet. They walked past a large pile of shoes and boots, when the policeman said to his sergeant “heres another two”. He and Terry were told by the sergeant to take off their boots, grandad protested his innocence telling him he wasn’t going to any football match and he wasn’t wearing boots but expensive leather shoes. The policeman told him that if he doesn’t take off his shoes he would be nicked for obstruction and would be spending the night in jail. Without hesitation he and Terry quickly removed their expensive leather shoes, the copper then threw their loafers on the pile of other confiscated footwear and marched him and Terry in their socked feet to the end of the row of shoeless football supporters.
“Wait here, You’ll get your shoes back after you’ve been questioned and searched” said the sergeant, Terry shouted they had done nothing wrong but the copper just walked off. Grandad said as a teenager he had never been in trouble with law and here he was amongst football hooligans in his socks in the street, he felt quite embarrassed as people walked past staring at them as if they where all criminals.
I found it difficult to imagine my grandad as a teenager being in trouble and getting his shoes taken from him.
They watched as more lads where forced to remove their footwear and joined the queue to be searched. Terry asked another lad why the coppers took away their shoes, he claimed it was to stop anyone running off before being searched and the coppers enjoyed doing it especially as everyone had to search for their boots afterwards making them late for the football match.
He also said coppers classed their boots as offensive weapons and often made football supporters remove them before entering the football grounds only to have them returned afterwards. It was to deter lads from wearing boots as watching a match in socked feet on a cold winters day wasn’t very pleasant.
After about one hour with cold feet they where questioned and searched and allowed to go. When they got to the pile of confiscated boots, their leather shoes where missing, probably stolen. When they complained a policeman said just take any pair that fits. He and Terry ended up wearing some scruffy old boots whilst their expensive leather shoes where probably on their way to Fulham football club on the feet of some thugs. The coppers didn’t care said grandad.
Jordan didn’t feel too bad as he got out of the car, at least he got his shoes back and didn’t have to stand outside in his socked feet.

Grandad said this went on a lot in the sixties and seventies. I found some old photographs of young guys on the streets of London in their socked feet on mirrorpix.com just search for youths boots.

Magic

Author – Irsocks

Matt and I were bored. The campus was almost empty because of the break. There was nothing on TV, no parties, and the video games grew old quickly. We needed something to do. That is when Matt remembered seeing a flyer for a magic show just a few blocks from campus. We decided to go. Matt slipped on his grey DC Stags covering his black DC socks with gray heels and toes, and I grabbed my blue Pure high-top WCs slipping them onto my blue and white elite sock feet. Since it was only a few blocks away we walked.
Since it was not a big show it was free admission. There were not a lot of people there. It started off slow. The magic was nothing new. The magician didn’t even have a beautiful assistant. He got heckled a lot, but it did not stop him from smiling and doing his magic tricks with flare. People got up and left throughout the show. Matt, me, and two guys at another table were the only ones left. I felt bad for the guy because Matt and the other guys kept booing and yelling at him to do something new. We all clapped when he said he was going to do his final magic trick for the night.
The magician’s expression changed when he saw us clapping. He told us since we had stayed for the entire performance that the drinks were on him. There was a big puff of smoke, and there were drinks on our tables. Matt yelled that is what I am talking about.
The magician said for my last trick I will need a volunteer from the audience. I wasn’t going up there. I looked at Matt. He shook his head. The other guys did not look like they were going either. We just sat there looking at the magician. He said okay I will choose a volunteer. He rolled a table with a small box on it out onto the stage. He covered the box with his cape and tapped it with his wand. He opened the box to reveal a grey skate shoe. He said will the owner of this shoe please step forward. Matt and I looked over at the other guys. They pointed at Matt, rather at his feet. He was missing a shoe. We couldn’t believe it. Matt looked down only to see his right skate shoe and his left sock foot.
Matt walked up on stage and asked the magician how he had gotten his shoe. The magician said a magician never reveals his tricks. He had our full attention now. He gave Matt his shoe back, and Matt slipped it back on his foot. The magician asked Matt to help him unfold the box. Once they were done the box was big enough to hold a person. Now the show was getting good. Matt told the guy he should have started with this trick. The magician said I will now make him disappear. Matt always wanted to know how magicians made people disappear.
Matt stepped into the box. The magician turned the box around once and then covered it with a big sheet. He asked Matt if he was okay in there. Matt yelled yeah get on with it. He tapped the top of the box once, the middle twice, and the bottom three times with the wand. He pulled the sheet off and opened the box. Matt was not in there. We clapped with amazement. He said now I will bring him back. He covered the box again with the sheet and tapped it on the bottom three times. He removed the sheet and opened the door and bowed. There was no Matt. The only thing in the box was Matt’s skated shoes.
He said oops, I must have done it wrong. We all started laughing. I was sure where ever Matt was he was not laughing nor was it funny. The guy covered the box again and scratched his head. We didn’t know if this was part of the show or if it was real. I would have a hard time explaining it to Matt’s parents. The guy seemed to remember and tapped the box in the middle twice and then at the top once. When he pulled the sheet from the box there was a big puff of smoke and the lights went out for a few seconds.
When the lights came back on the only one on stage was Matt. The magician and the box had disappeared. Me and the guys at the table stood up and clapped until we saw Matt look down at his feet. Matt was shoeless. All of us could see his black DC socks with gray heels and toes. He wiggled his toes in disbelief. It was amazing. Matt didn’t think so because there he was on stage in his sock feet with his shoes nowhere to be found. Matt looked all around the stage but could not find his shoes. When the guys realized that his shoes were gone, they started laughing and pointing.
We were so surprised by the trick that they didn’t notice that they had been apart of the trick also. Matt pointed at their feet. I looked over at them as they looked down. There shoes were gone as well. We all saw a pair of white and blue Adidas socks and a pair of no show black and red Puma socks. No one was laughing now. I froze. Matt pointed at me next. I looked down to see my two elite sock feet. We all rushed the stage looking everywhere for the magician and our shoes. They were nowhere to be found. After what seemed like hours we all gave up and headed back toward campus in our sock feet.
We all agreed that we would never go to another magic show for a while. The walk of shame wasn’t too bad. There were only a few people that pointed and laughed at us as we walked the few blocks in our socks. His last trick was amazing. The show may have been free, but it cost us our sneakers.

Jordan of the dead

Author – Shaun

The zombie apocalypse wasn’t quite what I was expecting.


Why do zombies get so dishevelled so quickly? Do people keep a set of trashed clothes on stand by in case they become a zombie? Should I get a set in case it happens to me?


It can only be a matter of time now. There are enough living-living left to update the zombie statistics on the official government web site. It’s grim. I should really stop looking.


I wander around the blood stained streets at night, seeing what has become of my town, with only the Cricket Bat of Righteous Protection to save me. Ever vigilant for any sound. Was that a zombie, or a distant train?


I have noticed that zombies never lock their front doors. Number 12 no longer has a 65″ TV. Number 23 spent ages trying to get a PS5 and lost it in a matter of minutes. The only thing left at Number 44 is the kitchen sink.


But I can’t help noticing the space just inside the open front doors. The shoe racks of the not-quite-departed. A whole array of sneakers that I couldn’t possibly afford to buy. I wander along the street in my well-loved Adidas Stan Smiths looking at box-fresh white TNs in one house, Yeezy 350 in the next. I’m like a kid in a candy store.


I wonder if I will find my grails?


It’s dark as I come to the end of my road, and I peer into the doorway of the last house. I can’t quite make out what sneakers are enticing me in. Some sort of hi tops. I look around, hold my cricket bat ready and move towards the dull glow of the entrance.


I squint my eyes and look at the treasures inside. A couple of pairs of Jordan 1s. I gingerly enter the house, and start to look around. The man was a collector! In the back room contains some custom made shelving, with floor to ceiling Jordan 1s. This man must have spent a fortune.


I switch on the light to get a better look at the treasure wall in front of me. I walk up to the wall and pull out some Royal Toes. They are my size! My hands help my eyes scan the collection and, there in the dead centre, my grails in my size.


I pull the Jordan from the shelf, hold it in my hands and admire it. And I am struck by a thought. Zombies and me aren’t so different. At the end of the day, we are both searching for Bloodlines.

The stranger – Part 6

Author – Nike Mike

I was anxious but also nervously excited knowing the stranger would soon have the work boots off my feet. I wasn’t getting that ‘Friday feeling’ when work finished for the week.

‘Enjoy your weekend guys’ I said as I jumped out of the van near the pier. I was too focused on losing my boots to realise that Tomasz had also got out before the van drove off. I had totally forgot to cancel our games night. I didn’t want any unnecessary embarrassment so I apologised giving a lousy excuse before pointing him in the direction of the bus stop.

The pier was busy, I sat on the concrete, unlaced then pulled off my boots, I casually dangled my socked feet over the side as if I was resting them after a long hard day at work. Then Tomasz re-appeared, his bus wasn’t due for an hour so he decided to join me on the pier.

‘Why are you here?’ he asked as he stared at my unoccupied boots. I told him to leave me alone. Wearing an orange fluorescent jacket and white hard hat, he stood out from the crowd as he walked away, being dressed the same I too would stand out especially without my boots. I was not going to enjoy my walk home in daylight. My focus moved from Tomasz to a cyclist passing him, it was the stranger.

The stranger told me to stand up, he looked me up and down from my white socked feet to my white hard hat.
‘Put your boots on’ he said.
Feeling relieved I quickly put them on. I asked him why he had involved Jimmy by taking his footwear. He laughed before explaining what actually happened in the park.

‘I was returning your trainers to prove you could trust me’ he said. ‘Your mate saw me carrying your Nikes and demanded them’.

‘So you decided to take his trainers instead and my new Nikes too, that’s a funny way to earn someone’s trust’ I said. He smiled telling me Jimmy actually gave him his trainers.

I laughed ‘Jimmy just gave you his shoes, I find that hard to believe’ I said.
‘I have more fun persuading guys to give me their shoes, I just wish I could be inside their heads when they realise what they’ve done as they stand in their socks’ he said laughing.

Apparently leaving my Nikes unattended for him to take the other night was technically the same as giving them to him.

‘Your mate thought you’d allow him to stay with you if he retrieved your trainers. Instead I persuaded him to give up his own trainers as you wouldn’t kick him out if he was shoeless. I promised to return them on Sunday if he gave me your new Nikes too, which I was entitled to take because you where warned to be shoeless’.

The stranger was good at manipulating the situation to his advantage. He told me Jimmy couldn’t take the trainers off his feet quick enough, giving them and my new Nikes to him without any hesitation.

He looked me up and down again and asked me to remove my boots.
‘Why the hell did you tell me to put them back on?’ I demanded to know as I sat back down and unlaced them again.
‘I wanted to see you wearing them in your work clothes’ he said.

‘Demanding my boots just dispels what you just said’ I told him.
‘I asked you to take them off’ he said smugly. ‘You don’t have to give me them’ he said confidently. ‘But you want me to have your boots because of the opportunity of getting back your forfeited Nikes’.

He picked them up telling me he was going to enjoy this weekend knowing I had nothing to wear on my feet. He cycled away. He hadn’t taken anything, he’d been given everything, he was clever and controlling.

I started walking along the pier in my socked feet, wearing my hard hat as far forward as possible to hide my face from curious eyes.

I became annoyed, Jimmy had intentionally made himself shoeless, lied and made me feel bad about his situation. If he hadn’t interfered, he’d be back home and I wouldn’t be walking along a busy pier in my socked feet knowing I will be shoeless all weekend.
My phone began ringing, it was Tomasz.
‘I’ve caught your shoe thief, come quick to bus stop’ he said excitedly.

To be continued.

My new neighbor

Author – Benny

we live in an apartment building, mainly with my mother as my father works out of town in a college, so he leaves early to commute and isn’t around much.
Around a year ago a new neighbor moved in with a coupe of kids – -until then there were no kids my age in the building.
The father is quite a live wire, during the lockdown he organized stories and activities for the children in the lobby etc… only thing is that he likes pulling off shoes!!!
the first time he offered to help me walk on my hands – i.e. a wheelbarrow – and he took a few meters but as he put me down he pulled ff my shoes and threw them across the building’s yard. one other occasions he pulled them off in the stairs and threw them a couple of floors etc..
Once he took us to the park, in the park there is a massive climbing frame, it probably id a couple of hundred meters of ropes and bridges and chutes, and as i climbed a ladder he pulled off my shoes. I climbed down again but he put up a mast and insisted i climb back up the ladder and make my over the equipment.
On another occasion he saw me watching my sister trade napkins in the stair well and he asked her if she want a black napkin, so she says yes, then he asks her friend if she also wants, then he pulls off my shoe and puts it in my sisters box with the napkins with logos from different airlines etc…
Nowadays if my mom asks me to borrow eggs or something from them i take my shoes off before i go down, or he pulls them off and refuses to give them back r chucks them from the window .

On the way back from school trip

Author – P

This story is from long ago.

We had a 2.5hr journey back from a school trip. It had been raining all day and my feet were soaked. I needed to give them some air and I decided to do that on the bus back.

I sat in the middle of the bus, next to the window. I had a friend sitting next to me. About 5 mins into the journey, I slid of my right shoe. I had the sole of my foot on the seat, with my shoe half dangling. My friend took notice but wasn’t paying much attention. I caught him watching but didn’t make it obvious. I started feeling my foot and started teasing him by dangling it and wiggling my toes. I decided it was time to take it off completely. I was wearing a pair of white ankle socks and I revealed them about 15 mins into the journey. They were very wet. I started to put my foot on the seat in front of his. It was FUN. He was catching sight and even accidentally hit it. I took of my other shoe. The whole journey was a story of me teasing my friend with my wet ankle socks.


I do a lot of shoeplay and I like to kick of my shoes. You can view my YT channel titled – P.

Mrs Marstons boots

Author – Richyrich

As a teenager I became friends with a guy called Rob Marston who had just moved into the area and who lived in a nice house with his mother. She, a lady in her 40’s was very smart and always dressed very stylishly. He was an only child and his father had sadly died a few years earlier so it was just him and his mother. After we had known each other and become friends over a few months, Rob asked me if I would like to come over to his house and have supper with him and his mother after school one evening and I accepted the offer. A date was set and as he lived some distance from the school it was arranged that his mother would pick up the two of us after school. I had briefly met his mother a few times before but never spent a lot of time with her so this would be a chance for me to get to know her better.
The day arrived and Rob and I met his mother a few metres from the school. Mrs Marston was an attractive lady, about 5’6 tall (or so I reckoned she would be without her heels) with a slim figure and shoulder length black hair and was dressed as nicely as always, this time she was wearing a blue dress with a white jacket and an elegant pair of black high heeled knee length suede boots. She had a nice car, a red BMW and she then greeted me most friendlily, saying
“Well I’ve heard a lot about you my dear, I look forward to having you over and getting to know you better” I replied that I was also looking forward to visiting her house and getting to know her.
The drive to Rob’s house took some 20 minutes and we then arrived at an old converted farmhouse which had been done up. It seemed a lovely house. Rob had already told me that his father had built up a successful electronics business that was doing well and after his sudden death, his mother had sold the business for a substantial sum of money, which meant that the two of them could continue to enjoy a comfortable standard of living without her having to go to work. He had also told me that his mother was very fussy about keeping the house clean and spent a lot of her time cleaning the house (which must have taken up quite a bit of her time given that the house was pretty big) After we came to the end of the long driveway we came out of the car and walked towards the front door of the house. Just before we arrived at the door my friend’s mother told me
“My dear, I don’t mean to be fastidious and I’m a pretty easy going lady on the whole but I’m sure that Rob has told you that I like to keep my house clean and spotless, so there is just one rule when you come here. I think you can probably guess what it is.”
“No I can’t say that I do sorry Mrs Marston”
“Oh I’m surprised that Rob hasn’t told you but we don’t wear shoes in our house. They come off in the porch, we leave them there and inside the house we just go about in our stockinged feet”
“Fair enough Mrs Marston” I replied, “your house, your rules”
We then went into the porch whereupon Mrs Marston said pointing to some shelves
“We just leave our shoes on these, after you’ve done that you can go in and we can all have some refreshments”
Rob and I removed our shoes and placed them neatly on the shelves and Mrs Marston also bent down, unzipped her boots, exposing her legs and feet in nude stockings or tights and then also placed the boots on another shelf. We then all went through to the living room.
The inside of the house was as stylish as the outside, the floors were covered with cream carpets so I could understand why Mrs Marston was so keen on shoes being removed. Indeed the plush carpets felt quite comfortable under my socked feet.
“Right boys”, she said “I’ll just go and get us some biscuits and a drink, then I’ll go and cook dinner and you can go to what we call the drawing room and have a natter”
Shortly afterwards Mrs Marston returned with biscuits and orange juice for us and we started chatting
“You’ve got a really nice place here Mrs Marston. When you first told me that I would have to take off my shoes, I didn’t feel too comfortable about it, doing it in someone else’s house but it already feels really comfortable, especially with your lovely carpets underneath my feet”
“Oh yes it’s great” she replied rubbing her nude stockinged feet together as she spoke “in actual fact, maybe I shouldn’t say this to you but it actually feels quite sensual to feel my nyloned feet on the carpet”, with a slightly mischievous smile as she said it.
After we had finished our refreshments Mrs Marston went to the kitchen to start preparing dinner and Rob and I went to the so called drawing room. I told him that a drawing room sounded very posh and he said that his mother sometimes did like to put some airs on! A while later I wanted to go to the bathroom and I asked Rob where the toilet was. He said that there was a downstairs one just by the front door and the porch. After I had been to the toilet I went to the porch and had a peek at Mrs Marston’s boots, there were smart ones and it looked as though they were new and rather expensive. I was then overcome with temptation to play a trick on her. I took the boots and carried them with me upstairs. There were four bedrooms there and I peeked into them, and found one which seemed like a spare bedroom. I then put the boots under the bed there before returning downstairs to the Rob in the “drawing room”.
Some time afterwards Mrs Marston called us for dinner in the dining room. It was a nice meal, a lamb casserole and we all had a good conversation as we ate it. After we had coffee afterwards she said that she would then drive me home. She then told me to go to the porch and put my coat and shoes back on.
“Hmmm” I said to myself, “this is the moment. How will she react?”
Mrs Marston went to the porch after me and looked at the shelf where she had placed her boots.
“My goodness where have my boots gone? Rob” she shouted “have you moved my boots again without me asking you? I’ve told you before that you shouldn’t do that as I need to get them quickly when I go out”
“I haven’t touched them this time Mum” he said
“Oh my God” Mrs Marston said concerningly “there have been some burglaries around here recently, I hope no one’s been prowling around here and seen my boots and stolen them as they were pretty expensive. That would be really awful”
She must have seen a smirk on my face as she said to me
“You haven’t hidden them and think it’s funny have you?”
“Why would I do a thing like that Mrs Marston?” I replied acting the innocent
“I don’t know, Rob has done it a few times as a prank.”
At that point she took my shoes off the shelf and held them.
“Right” she said “until you tell me where you’ve put my boots, you’re not having your shoes back either which means that you can’t go from here. Both of us will have to stay here in our stockinged feet until I find them.”
After a couple of minutes silence I then said
“Ummm, Mrs Marston, I suggest that you go and look through the spare bedrooms.”
Whereupon she went upstairs and some five minutes later came back down carrying her boots.
“OK” she said “you had your fun but you had me really worried about what had happened to my lovely boots. It’s been lovely having you here and I’ll be happy to have you again soon but there’ll be one condition.”
“What is it Mrs Marston?”
“Well, when you come here from now on, you’ll give your shoes to me as soon as you take them off in the porch, and I will then hide them and only give them back to you when it’s time for you to go home, if you’ve behaved yourself. Is that a deal?”
“Yes whatever, Mrs Marston”
Mrs Marston then drove me home. I did go there a few times again and she was as good as her word, I would always hand over my shoes to Mrs Marston as soon as I took them off in the porch and she would then go and hide them and give them back to me when it was time to leave.

The stranger – Pt5

Author – New Nike

I put on my work boots, Jimmy’s socked feet stuck out from under the blanket as he slept on the sofa reminding me of last night. I felt guilty that he would be stuck inside my apartment all day, shoeless. I went outside and waited for my ride to work.
My Polish workmate Tomasz, talked about tomorrow night, he didn’t have many friends since arriving in the UK and enjoyed our Friday nights of getting drunk and gaming. I needed for Jimmy to get his trainers and to be gone from my apartment.
I returned home to find Jimmy watching Netflix, dirty cups and plates everywhere. It began to rain heavily as we prepared to leave. Jimmy was hesitant to get his feet wet, suggesting I should go alone wearing my work boots.
‘With the lousy weather he’ll understand’ said Jimmy as he sat back down and switched the TV back on. I put my boots on and left alone.
The rain had stopped as the stranger approached. He shook his head ‘you ain’t shoeless and where is your mate?’ he said saying he would be keeping Jimmy’s New Balance trainers permanently and I would have to forfeit my work boots if I was to get my trainers returned.
I explained it was too wet to be walking around without shoes and that I needed my boots for work and Jimmy needs his trainers to allow him to go back home tomorrow.
‘You keep breaking the rules’ he said as he looked down at my boots. ‘You where warned about not being shoeless, give me your boots or I keep your nice Nike trainers permanently’. I begged him not to take my boots.
‘I’ll do you a deal, I’m going to cycle away just like the other night, give you time to think’ he said. ‘If your boots are not here when I return then it’s game over, you’ll not see me or your trainers again. If they are here then I’ll take them, a deserved sock walk to collect them at the other end of the pier will be punishment for wearing them tonight’.
‘You must agree to return here straight after work tomorrow and take them off and wait for me to arrive. You and your mate must return on Sunday night, shoeless, no more excuses or I’ll be keeping everything. You will get your boots and him his trainers. I will be keeping your Nikes until I decide when to give them back. He cycled away.
I was concerned about Jimmy losing his trainers and unable to go home, I felt guilty. To get them back I would have to give the stranger my boots. So I took them off and climbed the steps abandoning them. The concrete chilled my socked feet as I watched the sun set. The thrill I’d previously had when he took my trainers was gone, my boots where my last pair of footwear. If he takes off with them permanently then I was literally shoeless.
The sun had set, I descended the concrete steps, my boots where gone. I began walking along the pier, fortunately there was nobody about to see me walking in my grey boot socks, it began to rain again. I was worried, without my boots I could not work, without work I had no money to buy anymore shoes or pay the rent. I would be jobless, homeless and shoeless. I was releaved to find my boots. I took off my wet socks and put my bare feet into my boots and walked home.
Jimmy didn’t seem upset that we would both be stuck shoeless inside my apartment all weekend.
To be continued.

Football bet re-match

Author – Dave

Well the date was finally set for our re-match four weeks since our first match and this time we knew what the prize was, either our opponents won back their trainers and we went home in our socks or they lost their trainers again. Steve, who’s idea the bet was in the first place, suggested that as it was dry we should all play in our socks, so it was winners take all, we were mad as hell taking our trainers off at the side of the pitch but you cannot go back on a challenge can you. You should never make a decision in anger, but we did. Shirts as well we yelled pulling off our shirts and throwing them on top of our trainers, Steve’s team did not hesitate for a moment, so that was it, playing in just jeans or in Will’s case shorts and football socks and going home the same way. I have to say it was not the best tempered match and every goal was hard won. I was fairly quickly playing in bare feet as my black no show socks did not stay on, The game stood at a 4 all draw and in the closing moments Steve was fouled and while he lay spread eagled on the pitch a penalty was called. He elected to take the shot himself and we were totally dejected to see the ball sail un opposed through the temporary posts, our keeper being duped into diving the wrong way. Steve’s team dressed and collected their trophies, walking off cheerfully. We dejectedly went home, two of us barefoot as our socks did not stand up well to the hard job asked of them. We had not expected to be going home without our shoes much less bare chested.